Hi fellas,
Not sure how many of you will remember former Coventry manager George Raynor, but I think it's fair to say not many are aware of his extraordinary achievements in this country. Stated by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful international football manager of all-time, Yorkshire-born Raynor managed the Swedish national team in four different spells, most notably 1946-1954 and 1956-1958. In that time he managed Sweden in four major competitions, two World Cup's and two Olympic Games'. The worst he ever did was finishing third, winning the Olympics in 1948 and reaching the World Cup final in 1958.
He had a relatively unremarkable playing career, playing for Sheff Utd, Mansfield, Rotherham, Bury and Aldershot, before having his career cut short by the war. Having taken Sweden to Olympic glory and a World Cup final, as well as managing Juventus and Lazio, Raynor had hopes of landing the England job upon his return to Britain. Instead he ended up managing part-time Skegness Town; there could be no finer indication of the contrast between his reputation on the continent compared to at home. His time with the Sky Blues was sandwiched between his time at Lazio and his second spell with Sweden, coming in 1956, but lasted only 5 months.
Doncaster were the only other English league club he ever managed, also lasting less than a year. Anyhow, for those of you who are interested, the full article is here:
http://ahalftimereport.com/2016/01/07/george-raynor-the-greatest-manager-england-never-had/
Cheers.
Not sure how many of you will remember former Coventry manager George Raynor, but I think it's fair to say not many are aware of his extraordinary achievements in this country. Stated by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most successful international football manager of all-time, Yorkshire-born Raynor managed the Swedish national team in four different spells, most notably 1946-1954 and 1956-1958. In that time he managed Sweden in four major competitions, two World Cup's and two Olympic Games'. The worst he ever did was finishing third, winning the Olympics in 1948 and reaching the World Cup final in 1958.
He had a relatively unremarkable playing career, playing for Sheff Utd, Mansfield, Rotherham, Bury and Aldershot, before having his career cut short by the war. Having taken Sweden to Olympic glory and a World Cup final, as well as managing Juventus and Lazio, Raynor had hopes of landing the England job upon his return to Britain. Instead he ended up managing part-time Skegness Town; there could be no finer indication of the contrast between his reputation on the continent compared to at home. His time with the Sky Blues was sandwiched between his time at Lazio and his second spell with Sweden, coming in 1956, but lasted only 5 months.
Doncaster were the only other English league club he ever managed, also lasting less than a year. Anyhow, for those of you who are interested, the full article is here:
http://ahalftimereport.com/2016/01/07/george-raynor-the-greatest-manager-england-never-had/
Cheers.